This week, The Coca-Cola Co.'s Web site has once again proven to be a good source of information about soda industry changes. Browsing through the most recent press releases, I found one from March 22 that sparked my interest. Apparently Coke is coming out with a new drink: Diet Coke Plus.
According to the Web site, Diet Coke Plus will contain vitamins and minerals to make the product healthier. In fact, "Each eight-ounce serving of Diet Coke Plus provides a good source of Niacin (vitamin B3), vitamins B6 and B12, zinc and magnesium (15% Daily Value [DV] for Niacin, B6 and B12, 10% DV for zinc and magnesium)." The beverage will be launched in "12-ounce 'sleek cans'" in Los Angeles and New York City, but it will be available nationwide in April.
I'm not so sure about the benefits of adding vitamins and minerals to soda. While I suppose it is better to drink soda with vitamins as opposed to drinking the same amount without them, I am hesitant to believe they will be that beneficial to consumers or that consumers will even be that interested in the product in the first place. Additionally, people may be led to believe the product is actually healthy for them in terms of health food items, which could lead to an increase in soda drinking (and perhaps obesity to boot). This false sense of what is healthy might not be so good for the American consumer.
What does everyone else think about this? Would you buy Diet Coke Plus? Is it a good idea to put vitamins and minerals in soda? Will it be a hit?
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5 comments:
When reading your article about Diet Coke Plus I just wanted le laugh...by trying to stay popular on the soda market, Coke is trying too hard to be innovative.
Adding minerals and vitamins to a diet coke?! really?! I mean why not, but I am really affraid as well they will promot this as a healthy drink and that some less aware people will actually consider it as one. Coke products are not healthy in general and they should not try to invest a market that they do not belong in.
I'm a bit sceptical about this new drink and very curious to see how they promote and advertize it.
I love Diet Coke, and I drink at least one a day. Although I do think it's weird that Diet Coke will now contain vitamins and minerals, I wouldn't mind drinking it.
I agree with Mina's comment about the drink being promoted as a health drink. I hope that Coke promotes this drink correctly. The truth is, I cant wait to try it!
I this is definitely an interesting and innovative idea by Coca-Cola. I don't know if vitamins in coke would necessarily be beneficial, and I am a little skeptical when reading about it. However, I drink Diet Coke all the time, and there is the logic that if I am going to drink it, why not drink something with added vitamins?
I suppose this product could be both a good thing and a bad thing. As Mina said, if coke promotes this as a healthy drink, they may be sending the wrong message to consumers out there.
Coca-Cola is trying to position its products in a healthier light, and this may be the product to do it. I am interested to see whether this product will be a success or not.
I would not buy the soda because I am not a fan of Diet drinks, in fact I believe they taste sweeter than regular drinks. However, I do think that adding vitamins is a good idea. This is because people are always going to drink soda and I see no harm in adding something that would actually benefit their body to it. Furthermore I don't think that people will think that this is a health drink but rather they will recognize that it is healthy than the average soda. I think that this will be a benchmarking product and soon almost every soda company will be adding vitamins to its soda.
Me? Buy something with the word "diet" in the name? Never! Honestly I think a lot of people will buy into this. It sounds like it's supposed to be good for you. People will hear "vitamins and minerals" and will think they're doing something better for themselves.
But that's what we fat Americans do. We find the shortcut to being healthy. Or at least we try. If liquor companies advertised liquor with vitamins and minerals, people would probably fall for that too. Bottom line: people will buy anything if it's advertised the right way.
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